Thread: Mitchell Bros. Hitch

Hi All,

We are responding to this post to clarify a couple of points raised in various posts through this thread.

1) The original 12mm bolt section failed on three occurances. The first issue occured because the owner of the hitch decided to modify the hitch (without consultation) which allowed the main top bolt to come loose which in turn destroyed the top bushing which caused the bolt to break. In the second instance the bolt broke due to incorrect tension and no secondary tensioning or inspection of the top bolt. Both of these situation could have been avoided by follow the specifications provided and NOT modifying the components. The third case was a second hand fitting kit which should never have been fitted to the vehicle in the first place.

2) The top bush assembly is single use only, if they are removed from the vehicle they must be replaced along with all Nyloc nuts (3). We supply a replacement fitting kit for those who wish to remove the hitch regularly.

In both cases the hitch has stayed attached to the vehicle.

We cannot allow for modifications to the hitch nor do we accept responsibility for failures in this case. Similarly, we cannot accountable in the case that maintenance and re tensioning of all bolts is not undertaken.

We would always prefer the hitch to be fitted by competent persons, we cannot make allowances for individuals mechanical aptitude, or lack of it.

We can confirm the details that were posted (we have not actually seen the original reply post) in this thread are correct and that a series of issues caused the failure of the hitch

Thanks to all those who keep level heads and don't jump to conclusions.

CaverD3, you know we love "Jap Crap" but we still support Rover.

Originally Posted by MitchellBros4x4

Hi All,

We are responding to this post to clarify a couple of points raised in various posts through this thread.

1) The original 12mm bolt section failed on three occurances. The first issue occured because the owner of the hitch decided to modify the hitch (without consultation) which allowed the main top bolt to come loose which in turn destroyed the top bushing which caused the bolt to break. In the second instance the bolt broke due to incorrect tension and no secondary tensioning or inspection of the top bolt. Both of these situation could have been avoided by follow the specifications provided and NOT modifying the components. The third case was a second hand fitting kit which should never have been fitted to the vehicle in the first place.

2) The top bush assembly is single use only, if they are removed from the vehicle they must be replaced along with all Nyloc nuts (3). We supply a replacement fitting kit for those who wish to remove the hitch regularly.

In both cases the hitch has stayed attached to the vehicle.

We cannot allow for modifications to the hitch nor do we accept responsibility for failures in this case. Similarly, we cannot accountable in the case that maintenance and re tensioning of all bolts is not undertaken.

We would always prefer the hitch to be fitted by competent persons, we cannot make allowances for individuals mechanical aptitude, or lack of it.

We can confirm the details that were posted (we have not actually seen the original reply post) in this thread are correct and that a series of issues caused the failure of the hitch

Thanks to all those who keep level heads and don't jump to conclusions.

CaverD3, you know we love "Jap Crap" but we still support Rover.

Well mine failed and I'm not in any of the above examples
Even when I noticed it starting to tilt, the torque on the bolt was still correct

Ken

Originally Posted by roamer

Well mine failed and I'm not in any of the above examples
Even when I noticed it starting to tilt, the torque on the bolt was still correct

Ken

"Started" to tilt is not a failure.

It may be a sign of one beginning - but it is not a failure.

The correct version of your statement would read something like:

Well mine is not in any of the above examples, however mine showed signs of fatigue.
Even when I noticed it starting to tilt, the torque on the bolt was still correct

In much the same way an Electric Shock is not the same as Electrocuted.

Originally Posted by Tombie

"Started" to tilt is not a failure.

It may be a sign of one beginning - but it is not a failure.

The correct version of your statement would read something like:




In much the same way an Electric Shock is not the same as Electrocuted.

WTF
Yeah you get an electric shock just prior to getting electrocuted
And you get fatigue just prior to failure

Originally Posted by Tombie

"Started" to tilt is not a failure.

It may be a sign of one beginning - but it is not a failure.

The correct version of your statement would read something like:

In much the same way an Electric Shock is not the same as Electrocuted.

Seriously?

Its not a catastrophic failure, but its still a failure.

It may not be a design fault, but if something moves when its not supposed to, something has failed.

Cheers,
Jon

There is a neoprene looking bush in a Mitch Hitch that wears out eventually, this is no different to any bush in any motor vehicle that wears out.

Roamer you clocked up some big miles if I remember rightly both on and off road towing your decent sized camper van. I would hazard a guess there were a few other parts that wore out on your D4 in that time.

Given yours was a 2009 D4 was your Mitch Hitch one of the earlier models like mine with the smaller bolt and larger bush?

cheers,
Terry

Terry

Your right its the bush that distorted, but 65k is not big miles
and yes a D4 can pull a just under 2 ton KK into some places that others struggle with a 1ton camper,they really are unbelievable,

And would think the guys who just tow vans on blacktop and gravel and NP roads will not have a problem with the hitch.

But it was designed to go onto the best 4x4 tower ever, and rated at 3.5 ton. Maybe their love of jap crap hindered the design for a D4s capability

So when it starts to fail like that (in the middle of nowhere) and you ring them and get told that if you use it extreme offroad there is an update, for $100 (they were good at getting it to me) ,I find that abit rude.
Also I don't think that bigger bolt will stop the bush from distorting.

I went back to the LR hitch and had no problems , go figure.

Ken

Ps the marks on the end of the bush are not from movement, I pulled it out and turned it around with new bolt, to get out of trouble.

Thanks Ken for replying, my bush looked worse than that when it was taken out I must admit. However I bought mine secondhand and never replaced the bush or bolt and as explained by Mitch Hitch that is a no no which I now can understand why.

Since getting the new bush and larger bolt it has worked well with no issues even after repeatedly dragging our 2.5 ton van through some very rough and often fairly steep stepped bush tracks on occasion.

I don't mind admitting that I was annoyed that a simple upgrade with a smaller bush and larger bolt cost so much to buy though.

cheers,
Terry